Queen's Detective

Inside and outside the customs are two worlds.

On one side is the solid yellow land, on the other side is the endless desert.The birds hovered over the border, and sometimes landed on the beacon tower. Together with the soldiers guarding the border, they have been looking at the thousands of miles of yellow sand for decades.

It was noon when Yan Sanbai and Li Yan arrived. Although it was already October, the temperature was still terribly high.Brother Ying came with them. He had nothing to do, so he came to see him.

When the gate of the frontier fortress camp was slowly opened, the soldiers blew long horns to welcome the arrival of the King of Luoyang. People can't help but feel a sense of pride.

The general at the border is called He Tao, he is He Zhenglong's younger brother, and naturally he is also in the lineage of King Li.Knowing that Li Yan was going to leave the customs, he was very worried, "My lord, the outside of the customs is not peaceful recently, horse thieves are rampant, there are a lot of people coming and going, I don't know what they are plotting, our spies have released several waves one after another People, only one came back, very evil."

"Because of being haunted?" Brother Ying asked curiously.

Seeing that he was a friend brought by the prince, He Tao did not dare to neglect him, "I can't talk about the strange power and chaos, but there are rumors outside the customs recently that there are actually a hundred thousand ghosts under the Crescent Lake, and the owner of the Crescent Lake, Xiao Yun opened the seal of the ghost world, so all the evil spirits and resentful spirits ran out, travelers and horse thieves who used to pass by would go to Crescent Moon Lake to rest, but now no one goes."

"What about that spy?" Yan Sanbai asked.

"Dead." He Tao shook his head helplessly, "When he came back, his face was black and black, and his body was poisonous, and the doctors in the camp were helpless. We used to go to Crescent Lake to seek medicine, but now we also go to Crescent Lake It’s terrible, not long after that spy’s whole body festered and died, I was worried about contagion, so I ordered his body to be burned.”

"Did you leave a message?"

"Yes, but just one word—ghost."

He Tao deliberately lowered his voice, and Ling Ding beside him couldn't help trembling. No matter what, he was still afraid of ghosts.You said that they are good visiting friends, how did this happen to them.

"There are so many strange powers and gods in this bright universe." Li Yan is the least afraid of it.

"My lord!" He Tao was anxious, "It's absolutely impossible, what if—"

"With Hero Yan here, is there anyone else who can hurt me?"

Li Yan's words are true, he and Yan Sanbai teamed up, except for his master who is old but not stiff, there are few people in the world who are invincible, even if there are ghosts and monsters, they can't win against absolute force.

However, He Tao is still worried, Xiao Yun is Yan Sanbai's friend, and he must go.He was going, of course Li Yan couldn't let him go alone. In the end, both parties made a compromise. He Tao sent his lieutenant Wen Yang to lead a team of soldiers to protect Li Yan and escort them to Crescent Moon Lake.

Without further ado, after noon when the sun is at its strongest, the group set off.

Wen Yang is He Tao's most capable lieutenant general. He is tall, but his appearance is too feminine, so he is always fully armed with armor, half of his face is blocked by a visor, and he exudes a cold and hard aura in silence.

Crescent Moon Lake is actually not far from the border. In order to save time, Wen Yang took them along the road they usually take when marching, avoiding the quicksand and making haste, and they will arrive when the sky is still bright.

A desert oasis jumped into their sight without accident.

Crescent Lake is God's uncanny workmanship. A crescent-shaped lake was carved out of the world of yellow sand, and it has not been covered by wind and sand for many years.I don’t know when pavilions and pavilions were built on the green land beside Crescent Lake. The owner is enthusiastic and generous. Passers-by travelers often come here to rest. Crescent Lake has gradually become a well-known "post".

In the desert, such a place is a treasure land. It is not that no one has thought about it before. However, although the owner of Crescent Moon Lake is always smiling and looks gentle and deceitful, those who dare to invade often return home without a feather, and even once , On a nearby oasis inhabited by various ministries, a group of horse thieves who had been rampant for several years were directly built a human head tower, with a crescent flag on top, and no one dared to pick up the flag after more than a month.

The owner of Crescent Moon Lake has been passed down from generation to generation, and this generation is Xiao Yun.

A group of people got off their horses and led the reins to the low oasis. Yan Sanbai briefly talked about how he met Xiao Yun, "I met Xiao Yun three years ago, when I was traveling in the clouds. , wanted to go further, so I went to the Western Regions. There were many horse thieves in the desert. At that time, an earth-shattering incident happened. Some horse thieves kidnapped the princess of the Xicha Khanate. The horse thief was not allowed to be unrestrained, so he sent troops to arrest her, and issued a reward order on the desert, as long as he can snatch the princess back, he can get a thousand taels of gold."

"You went?" Li Yan asked.

"Are you short of money?" Yan Sanbai rubbed his nose, "Xiao Yun also went, and the two of us shared similar interests, so we formed a companion and killed the horse thief's lair together. It's just that the princess fell in love with him at first sight. Then the beauty of adulthood gave him the credit."

"I didn't get the money in the end." Li Yan smiled, only Yan Sanbai could do such a thing.

"Later, Xiao Yun still gave me a large sum of money as a matchmaker's gift money, and then I returned to the Central Plains and never saw each other again. Until a few months ago, I received a letter from Xiao Yun, saying that he and the princess I was about to get married, so I asked me to witness it, so I thought about coming over to say congratulations. I just didn't expect—" Yan Sanbai said, Crescent Lake was already in front of my eyes, I couldn't see it clearly because of the glare of the sun, but now I'm getting closer When he saw it, he frowned suddenly.

Crescent Lake turned into a black lake as a whole.The lake water that was originally crystal clear has disappeared without a trace, and now there is no wave at all on the lake, it is pitch black, like a huge ink pool.

"God, what's going on here?" Ling Ding ran forward a little bit quickly, standing on tiptoe to look, the entire lake didn't even have a bubble, and it was eerily quiet.

Yan Sanbai quickly glanced at the buildings by the lake, "Come on, let's go in and have a look!"

The buildings on the south bank of the Crescent Lake are patchwork, with green tiles and vermilion tiles, and red lanterns hanging on the roadside paved with bluestones. Walking among them, you feel like you are in Chang'an.Only when I saw the yellow sand all over the sky, I realized that I was in the desert. Such a scene is really unparalleled in the world.

But here is empty now, and there is no life at all.

"Niangniang Hall, Bodhisattva Hall, Thunder God Terrace..." Lonely read the names of those halls all the way, "What are these for?"

"It's an offering from the Xiao family." Yan Sanbai explained, looking up to the front, "The biggest building in front is the main building, where Xiao Yun lives."

"Dragon King Palace." Brother Ying looked up at the plaque on the main building, and couldn't help joking, "The Xiao family will enjoy it."

Yan Sanbai pushed open the door, and the sun poured down, following his footsteps into the room.There was still no one in the wide main hall, and pieces of red curtains hanging from the beam swayed gently, smashing the light and shadow.Yan Sanbai stretched out his hand to wipe the table, a layer of dark gray floated on his fingertips, but looking at the obvious marks on the table, it can be seen that the owner is not behind, there is no sweeping, but there are still unexpected guests.

And more than one wave came.

Did you come here on purpose, or just passing by?

Yan Sanbai stared at her eyes, then walked into the room again.

Li Yan covered his nose and mouth with a folding fan to block the ubiquitous dust, turned around and ordered: "Vice General Wen, go and search this place inside and out."

Wen Yang took the order to leave, and suddenly there were many footsteps in the main building, and more dust was shaken and fell down.

Li Yan found Yan Sanbai in the master bedroom, Yan Sanbai was standing in front of a hanging picture, Li Yan looked over, "This is Xiao Yun?"

The man in the portrait has a straight nose, deep eyes, curly black hair, and blue eyes. He seems to be a mixture of Han and Hu people.Yan Sanbai nodded, Xiao Yun once told him that the ancestors of the Xiao family were Han people, and after they came to the desert, they married a woman from the Hu tribe, so their appearance has the characteristics of the two tribes, with a straight nose, deep eyes, each Because of the difference between the wives, the color of the eyes of the children born is also different, but without exception, they are all handsome.

Therefore, the men in Xiao's family are very narcissistic. They hang their own portraits in their rooms, something ordinary people can't do.

"There is no trace of searching in this room at all." Li Yan was not interested in looking at other men. If he was more beautiful than him, he would not lose anyway.

Yan Sanbai withdrew his gaze, "Not only here, but all the rooms seem to have no signs of searching, and there is no sign that the owner is about to get married."

But Xiao Yun's letter clearly stated that he was going to marry that princess soon, did something happen before the marriage?But the Xiao family has guarded this lake for generations, and they will not leave easily, so how could they leave without a single person?

Just at this moment, there was a sudden scream from outside, which sounded like a lone voice.

Yan Sanbai and Li Yan glanced at each other, they didn't care about taking the stairs, they pushed out the window, followed the sound and landed on the roof of a slightly low house behind the main building.Turning over the broken window and going in, Yan Sanbai had already grasped the handle of the knife, but he saw only a single person standing there stupidly.

Yan Sanbai couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief and asked, "What happened?"

Lone raised his finger forward, swallowed hard, "You, look!"

A row of neatly arranged portraits came into view, and there were more than a dozen of them.There is no light in the room, and the daylight is blocked by the main building in front. In the dark space, seeing so many blue eyes and green eyes staring at you at first glance, it must be frightening for the timid.

Yan Sanbai stared at those people who looked similar to Xiao Yun, and then remembered that the Jing Pavilion is behind the main building.This place is equivalent to the Xiao family's ancestral hall, and outsiders are not allowed to enter. The last time Xiao Yun took him around to visit, he was not allowed to set foot here.

This scripture hall... will there be any clues?

Yan Sanbai looked around, candles?It's brand new, only ignites a little, and then goes out.

There is not as much dust here as outside, and a lot of wind and sand are blocked by the main building in front.

The footprints on the ground are very messy, and many people have been here.Looking at the shoe prints, most of them are riding boots, and they are horse thieves.

How many cases are under the portrait?There are many tablets on it, and each tablet corresponds to a portrait. There are no women here.

Yan Sanbai squatted down, lifted the cloth curtain over the table, and looked at the belly of the table.

Then suddenly, I saw a few small bumps on the table legs.He reached out to touch it and smelled the smell. It was candle oil, and it was a little dark because of the long distance.Yan Sanbai's eyes quickly swept upwards, and a little fire flashed in his eyes.

The table should have suffered some kind of impact, it was a frontal impact, the candle shook back and forth, and finally fell, bounced on the ground, the candle oil splashed, and just happened to hit the table leg.

Yan Sanbai stood up, reached out and touched the corner of the desk against the wall, a little dust fell off.

Li Yan was behind him, "What did you find?"

"There was a fight here, at least two months ago." Yan Sanbai said.

Wen Yang happened to come in at this time, "That was when the accident first happened."

Ling Ding also gathered his mind and walked over, "But there's no trace of blood here."

"It must have been wiped off." Yan Sanbai said, his eyes followed the trajectory of the candlestick falling, trying to find the traces of the fight at that time. Kneeling down, fingers groped for the gaps between the boards on the floor, then slammed the knife down and pried up a board.

In the gap, where the rag couldn't wipe it, there was still some blood stains.

Ling Ding couldn't help opening his mouth wide, and after following Yan Sanbai for so long, he still couldn't help but marvel that he could find out all of this.

However, there were only so many clues outside, Yan Sanbai put the board back to its original place, "Let's go inside and have a look."

Inside is the place where the scriptures are placed. I flipped through them casually, and found that most of them were Buddhist scriptures and Taoist scriptures. I also muttered that the beliefs of the Xiao family did not seem very pious.

The scripture hall is very small, although there are many scriptures here, it only takes a while to search.However, there was a mechanism master alone, and he soon discovered a secret room in the innermost part of the scripture hall.

What is surprising is that the layout of this secret room is exactly the same as Xiao Yun's bedroom in the main building, and even the portrait is placed in its original position.